Headroom – New Heaven LP Ever/Never Records

In just a few short years, Kryssi Battalene, the mastermind behind Headroom, has moved mountains and crossed oceans with her epic guitar-playing. In addition to Mountain Movers, her Headroom project enables Kryssi to further explore the outer reaches of her hypnotic state (some folks call it Connecticut). Following Head In The Clouds, last year’s triumphant debut on Trouble In Mind, Headroom’s new 12” EP on Ever/Never Records is just the front-lobe massage you didn’t even know you were craving. While recalling the towering grace of Bardo Pond, Headroom carve out their own space within the fertile crescent of modern American psychedelic rock.

“New Heaven” opens the proceedings, and you’d be forgiven for imagining the title an oblique reference to Headroom’s HQ — New Haven, Conn. As guitars arc towards the sky, Battalene’s voice gets the chopped-and-screwed treatment, as if to remind you that we are always on the precipice of something new, something unpredictable. “City Lights” is an earthbound meditation with lovely, reverb-soaked vocals and on-the-verge-of-feedback guitars that echo Les Rallizes Denudes, a key influence on Battalene and her cohorts (which include notable artists like Stefan Christensen). But they manage to maintain their cool, extending the ache until it turns into the sublime. Side Two of New Heaven is devoted to “Skyliner,” a patiently building exercise in sustained psych mode as guitars, synths and voice ride the rhythm section to the outer limits. This is definitely a slow ride, but maybe don’t take it so easy.